Author: Purushottam Nitai Das

Jhulan Yatra

Purushottam Nitai Das August 19, 2013

(Pic: Iskcon Kolkata)

Jhulan Yatra or the swing festival is being celebrated with great enthusiasm.  Replica of the forest groves of Vrindavan has been created within the temple. The swing and the arena where the festival is being celebrated have been beautifully decorated with colourful flowers and leaves. A magnificent swing bedecked with jewels is hung from the branches of trees with ropes. In such a splendid atmosphere Krishna and Radharani blissfully swings.

The sight of Krishna and Radharani swinging gives great joy to the devotees.  Devotees swing the Lord of their heart with great pleasure and throughout the festival they blissfully dance and joyfully sing the Hare Krishna Mahamantra, Jaya Radhe Jaya Krishna Jaya Vrindavan, Jaya Radhe, Jaya Jaya Madhava dayite and other devotional songs for the pleasure of the divine couple. 

Jhulan Yatra or the swing festival goes on eternally in the spiritual world.  The Jhulan Yatra pastime occurred in the forest groves of Vrindavan. Even the residents of the heavenly planets like Siddhas, Vidyadharas, Caranas, Kinnaras arrived on their celestial planes joyfully playing their musical instruments to witness the beautiful event. This wonderful pastime of the Lord with his consort Radharani and the Gopis of Vrindavan brought great joy to everyone.  This pastime is still celebrated in Vrindavan and in several other parts of the world by the devotees of Krishna.

In “Ananda Vrindavana Champu”, Kavi Karnapura explains: “The swing festival is the perfect object of meditation for those desiring a taste of devotion”. Devotees very eagerly wait for this festival; when the festival commemorates they make a magnificent jhulan (swing) for Krishna and Radharani.

This year the festival will be celebrated from 17th Aug to 21st Aug.

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Giving up bad habits is not difficult

Purushottam Nitai Das August 5, 2013

For many, giving up old bad habits appears to be impossible. Subconsciously we convince ourselves that it is impossible for me to give up my habits. “I am like that only”, we often fret. It is true that changing old habits isn’t so easy. And so we compromise and start seeking pleasure or relief by indulging in those activities. The more we indulge in bad habits the more that habit gets reinforced in our life. A smoker knows that smoking is injurious to health but he is so accustomed to smoking that he feels that he cannot live without smoking, and also convinces himself that smoking provides relief and relaxes his mind. Thus we get caught in a vicious cycle of bad habits.  

Suppose that an unemployed person gets a job of Rs 10000 and if someone offers him a new job of Rs 5000 then will he accept it. Definetely not. But if someone offers him a job of Rs 50, 000 then the person will happily give up his Rs 10000 job for Rs 50000 job. Similarly, we are not ready to give up our old bad habits because we do not find anything more pleasurable than it.   Our soul longs for happiness but we starve our soul of joy. As a part and parcel of the Lord we are ananda-mayo ‘bhyasat i.e. we are full of consciousness and we always hanker for eternal pleasure. And the best form of happiness which can satiate our heart is the transcendental pleasure. The blissful heart then does seek pleasure in any wrong activities.  Once we taste that nectarine joy then we will never forego it. Chanting the names of God like the Hare Krishna Mahamantra can provide us transcendental joy.

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Punished for doing the duty

Purushottam Nitai Das August 3, 2013
 
 
An IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh,India, Durga Shakti Nagpal, has been suspended by the UP government. Her crime is that she did her constitutional duty fearlessly without getting intimidated by the government.  This phenomenon is not just confined to UP but it is widespread.  Not just the politicians but even the bureaucrats need to be equally blamed for this sorry state of affairs. Today politicians can go to any extent to grab and retain the power and simultaneously there are bureaucrats who are ready to do anything to please their political bosses for good posting and promotion.  
Today we lack a leader who is selfless and have a strong moral value. After a train accident, Lal Bahadur Shastri, resigned from the post of railway minster on moral grounds although he was not directly responsible for it. But today we hardly find a single leader who can stand up to that standard. Today the politicians very well know that they can divide the people on the basis of caste and religion. The divide and rule policy used by the Britishers have been mastered by the political parties of India. Durga Shakti is an IAS officer so her issue grabbed the limelight. But there are hundreds and thousands of Durga Shaktis in India who are constantly being silenced by powerful politicians, mafias & corrupt bureaucrats.
These incidents are just the tip of an iceberg; we should be ready for many such unsavoury incidents if we do not wake up.  Today we Indians can be very easily purchased on the basis of caste and religion.  And when these elected representatives start biting us then we start shouting. But in spite of knowing the credentials of the politicians we have selected them, then why today we are complaining. Are we not equally responsible for the mess which the country is going through? Today’s leaders are being selected not based on their values or principles but on the basis of their muscle and money power & on the basis of their caste and religion.
One of the reasons why Bhagavad Gita was spoken by Krishna to Arjuna was because Krishna wanted to re-establish the raj – rishi paramapara – the rulers should be the epitome of virtues and should never deviate from the scriptural principles.  So if we want to have a bright future for India then we should select a leader who can live up to the standards of Arjuna.


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Spiritualize the mind

Purushottam Nitai Das August 3, 2013
Our mind gets clogged because we stuff it with unproductive substance. We have the very famous GIGO principle – Garbage in Garbage Out. What goes inside will eventually come out. If we expose a computer to a virus prone program then eventually the computer will start malfunctioning. Similarly, if we   infest our mind with hazardous impressions then eventually our life will be in a mess. A disturbed and agitated mind brings chaos to personal and professional life.  Whatever we see, hear or speak gets permanently stored in our mind. Our mind is the storehouse of all past, present and future experiences. If one is too much prone to watch vulgar or violent movies or remains in association of those who are pessimists then sooner or later one’s mind gets dominated by vulgar, violent or pessimistic thoughts.  So it is imperative that we feed our mind with right ingredients – positive and healthy thoughts.

But subduing mind is indeed a Herculean task.  Arjuna, the mighty warrior, who had the strength to conquer the whole world, expresses his inability to tame the mind. Krishna agrees with Arjuna that controlling mind is indeed very difficult but also assures Arjuna that it is not impossible. With practice and detachment we can gradually win our mind. “Lord Sri Krishna said: O mighty-armed son of Kunti, it is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind, but it is possible by suitable practice and by detachment”. (Bhagavad – Gita 6.35)

Detachment & Practice

Whenever our mind wanders we need to bring it back. The exercise would be tiring and sometimes we may even fail. But if we persevere then gradually we would be able to restrain our mind to a great extent. A jockey, while controlling his horse, neither applies too much force nor gives excessive freedom to the horse. We too will have to slowly restrain and restrict our mind. But all these efforts will go in vain if the mind does not get any positive engagements to focus on. We may apply force and bring back our mind but after bringing back we need to provide some object on which mind can focus. As we all know that we cannot empty the mind. So the only way to effectively subdue the mind is by focusing it on something positive.

Our mind focuses on those objects where it assumes that it will get pleasure. So, once we provide a higher taste to the mind then automatically it will start focusing on the object where it derives maximum pleasure. Transcendental pleasure is the highest of all the pleasures. And the practice of Krishna consciousness will open the gateway of transcendental pleasure. Hearing and chanting the names of Krishna is the most effective way to get detached from wrong thoughts and get attached to devotional thoughts.

We also need to regularly scan our mind to diagnose if there are any impurities still clogging our mind. And simultaneously we need to meticulously refrain our mind from getting allured by materialistic thoughts. The success will not happen overnight. We need to diligently endeavor for detachment from sense gratification and attachment to devotional life.

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In spite of 2 heart attacks….he transformed the lives of millions

Purushottam Nitai Das August 2, 2013

Exam is essential for a student. It tests his sincerity as well as preparedness. In our devotional journey we too are examined by Krishna. On our way, we may encounter few hurdles; the hurdles are just a test put for us by Krishna to check our commitment and eagerness for devotional life. Sometimes the hurdle may appear to be like a vast ocean but if we remain firm and continue practicing Krishna Consciousness with enthusiasm then the ocean will become a small puddle of water for us.

Krishna provides a glimpse of his mercy through the life of his pure devotees. Srila Prabhupada’s life is an example for us to learn this principle. His spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, had instructed him to go to the west and preach Krishna Consciousness to the western people. At that time he was just 26 years old.  Throughout his life he struggled hard to preach Krishna Consciousness in India but within his heart he always wanted to fulfill the wish of his spiritual master. After a lot of struggle he got an opportunity to travel to the west on a cargo ship. By this time he was about 70 years old but his zest to preach Krishna consciousness in the west was still there. He was having just Rs. 40, no assurance of permanent place to stay, no close relatives to take care, no guarantee of food. He had with him the priceless position – a trunk load of spiritual books.  On the ship he suffered from seasickness, dizziness and loss of appetite. And then he suffered 2 massive heart attacks, the third one would have killed him. But his resolve never waned. On the night of the 2ndheart attack he saw Krishna in his dream. Krishna was rowing the boat and assured him not to worry because he will take care of him.  And henceforth the journey passed peacefully.

 

Srila Prabhupada transformed the lives of millions of people all over the world.

·         During a short span of 12 years he opened 108 temples all over the world.

·         He wrote and translated around 80 books which include translation of 60 volumes of classic Vedic literatures.  

·         He established ISKCON which has today more than 600 centres all over the world.

·         He founded BBT (Bhaktivedanta Book Trust) which is today the world’s largest publisher of book on Vaisnava philosophy.

·         He introduced Rath Yatra in the western countries. Today in more than 100 major cities of the world Rath Yatra festival is celebrated including London, New York, Washington, Moscow, Los Angles, Durban, Dhaka and in several cities of India.

·         He began BTG (Back To Godhead) magazine in 1944 which is now published in several languages all over the world.

·         Srila Prabhupada’s commentary on Bhagavad – Gita has sold more than 3 crore copies and also have been translated into around 87 languages.

 

Krishna through the life of Srila Prabhupada has shown that obstacles in the life of a devotee may come but if one is sincere and serious then Krishna personally takes charge of the life of the devotee. So when next time we come across any hurdle then we should not get bogged down by it but instead we should endeavour hard to get over it. And we know that Krishna is always there to help us! 

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A man is known by the company he keeps

Purushottam Nitai Das August 1, 2013
Association is infectious. It is rightly said – a man is known by the company he keeps. People resort to substance abuse or become alcoholic only because of bad association. So we need to be extremely careful while choosing our companions. We should seek company of those whose life is an emblem of purity and virtue. Such noble souls can easily transform our lives. Narada Muni was the son of a maid servant in his earlier life. But once he got a rare opportunity to associate with the sages for few months. And those few months of association developed in him deep love for Lord thus making him one of the most celebrated devotees of the Lord. It is said sanghe shakti Kaliyuge – in Kaliyuga strength lies in association. And the best association in this world is that of the devotees.  “The value of a moment’s association with the devotee of the Lord cannot even be compared to the attainment of heavenly planets or liberation from matter, and what to speak of worldly benedictions in the form of material prosperity, which are for those who are meant for death”. (S.B. 1.18.13)
 
We should grab any opportunity to associate with the devotees. Srila Prabhupada built several Iskcon temples all over the world so that devotees can congregate together to discuss Krishna katha, perform kirtan and eat Krishna prasadam. In such congregations each devotee gets inspiration from each other. Association equips us with sufficient strength to successfully face any challenges.

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Art of Harnessing the Mind Power – a seminar by Iskcon Kolkata

Purushottam Nitai Das July 29, 2013
 
A cool, calm, composed and controlled mind is everyone’s desire but most of us fail to harness the true potential of our mind. Many of us constantly get agitated by the unwarranted dictum of our mind which makes our life chaotic. People mostly commit suicide not because of any physical reason but only because of mental miseries.
Understanding the necessity of the time Iskcon has been conducting various workshops and seminars all over the world educating people as how to channelize the mind’s true potential and helping them to lead a healthy and happy life.  One of the senior sannyasis of Iskcon, HH Radhanath Swami, is being frequently invited by leading multinational companies like Google, Microsoft, HSBC Bank, Apple, universities like Oxford, IIT, MIT, Standford to speak of these important subject matters. He was recently invited to address the British Parliamentarians. As part of this initiative Iskcon Kolkata organized a seminar on the topic Art of Harnessing Mind Power on 27th& 28th July. It was attended by many working professionals.  The speaker was Sankirtan Anand Das, a senior monk at Iskcon Kolkata.

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Unravel Mind’s true potential

Purushottam Nitai Das July 27, 2013
A piece of paper may lie entire day in the sun without getting affected. But if we divert all the rays of the sun through a magnifying glass on a particular spot of the paper then the paper after sometime starts burning. This is the power of being focused. Our mind too has the potential to ignite our life. And this can happen if we utilize our mind to its full potential.
It is verily said – our mind can be our best friend when controlled and can also be our fiercest enemy when it is uncontrolled. As a human being we are far more superior to non humans.  And one of the primary reasons is that we humans have the ability to utilize our mind for our own benefits. Animals basically work as per their instincts without bothering (or thinking) about pros and cons. But as humans we have the divine gift of harnessing the power of mind to its full potential. 
But unfortunately most of us fail to capture the tremendous potential of our mind and thus get destined to lead a below par life.  Many people struggle with life because of their uncontrolled mind. A drunkard or a smoker or even a criminal knows what is right and wrong but still they indulge in such nefarious acts. The reason is their inability to say ‘no’ to the demands of their unchaste mind. If we have a cool, calm, composed and controlled mind then in spite of provoking situations or circumstances we will not panic. We will not just remain undisturbed in trying circumstances but can convert those challenging situations to our own advantage.
A controlled mind is everyone’s desire but it’s not easy to achieve.  Arjuna, the powerful warrior, admitted it to Krishna when he said that it is easy to control the wind than to control the mind (Bhagavad – Gita 6.34). We have seen people going berserk because of their disturbed mind.
Lord Krishna admits that controlling mind is not easy but assures Arjuna that it is possible to do so through practice and detachment (Bhagavad Gita 6.35). We should detach ourselves from the activities which pollutes and disturbs our mind. And we should engage ourselves in those activities which detoxifies our mind like chanting the holy name of the God like the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. Once we gain control over our mind then we can lead a very happy, successful and meaningful life.

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Let us not be the killer

Purushottam Nitai Das June 4, 2013
Scriptures compare human body to a boat which should be used to cross over the ocean of material existence. Facilities given to the human bodies are like favourable breezes and scriptures and saintly people are like expert boatmen. All these help the boat to ply smoothly in the ocean of material existence.  If we are not utilizing these facilities then we are categorized as atma – ha, killer of the soul. And the killer of the soul has to live in abject misery always. So, let us not waste these precious opportunity which has been bestowed upon us in the form of a human body. We should utilize each and every moment of our life for self realization.

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Justice for others but mercy for me!

Purushottam Nitai Das April 23, 2013
Can any one of us very confidently say that we have never done anything wrong in our lives? We haven’t behaved in a shoddy or disrespectful way with others? The interesting aspect of our life is that we tend to forget something wrong which we do to others but always remember what others have done to us. We always vie for a person’s blood who misbehaved with us, spoke to us arrogantly or did not show any respect to us. The sight of that person agitates us, their success pains us. We always pray that god should do justice with me and punish our insulters severely. However if we have done something wrong to others then we always hope that god will be merciful and will surely forgive us. Is it not a double standard? If we seek forgiveness for our mistakes from God then should we also not desire forgiveness for others? It would not be better if we ourselves forgive that person who tried to hurt us.

Forgiveness is a great virtue which we should always nurture. History is inundated with the stories of people who are revered today because they had the heart to forgive others. Hiranyakashipu tried all means to savagely kill his 5 year old son Prahlad but Prahlad begged to Lord Nrsimhadeva to forgive his father, Lord Rama was always ready to forgive Ravana, Lord Nityanand Prabhu forgave Jagai and Madhai although they humiliated him and injured him, Hardias Thakura were beaten at 22 market places but throughout his ordeal Haridas Thakura begged the Lord to forgive those who were tormenting him, Jesus Christ begged for forgiveness for those who were crucifying him. Carrying grudge towards others is like carrying a burning charcoal in our hand. It burns us always and increases our suffering. Forgiveness reflects our magnanimity, it also purifies our heart. Once we forgive others then our heart experiences a deep serenity. This is why in Bhagavad Gita 16.3; forgiveness is categorized as one of the divine qualities. So, let us try to follow the footsteps of these great souls and try our best to forgive those who once brought pain in our life.

 

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